


Stubborn Pain

by MaddyJean



Series: Reedsy Short Stories [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Older Characters, Short One Shot, Short Story, Writing Prompt, reedsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddyJean/pseuds/MaddyJean
Summary: I've been doing weekly writing prompts on Reedsy and I have decided to post them, because why not? This is my story but the prompt is from Reedsy, so go check them out if you want some good prompts!
Series: Reedsy Short Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187288





	Stubborn Pain

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Write about a technophobe who’s been given a device to solve a problem they’ve struggled with for years, but isn't sure how they feel about it.

The warm smell of coffee lingered in the air as the doors to the cafe swung open. An older-looking man stepped through, wearing the usual sullen expression, and approached the front counter. One of the workers already had his standard black coffee at the ready. He ordered the same exact drink at the same exact time - never once late nor absent; the man grabbed his coffee and all but threw his money at the barista. Walking over to his self-proclaimed seat, he glanced at the coffee cup and saw what the barista wrote, ‘Gerald’ he let out a scoff, ‘A loyal customer for over twenty goddamn years, and they can’t even bother to spell my name right?! What a joke.” He shook off his thoughts before finding his seat, fortunately, unoccupied - he didn’t want to relive his argument he had with some teen over it.

Jerald slowly slid into the chair perfectly positioned in the corner, allowing him to see a little outside and still keep his eye on the other customers. As he sat, he could feel every one of his bones creaking in protest. The worst was his back that popped in multiple places - the sound echoing through the room. No matter how many doctors or chiro-whatevers he paid a fortune to see, not a single one of them could stop the agony he goes through from doing even the simplest of tasks.

Finally settled, Jerald did his usual scanning of the room, a habit he developed after some hooligans broke into his home and stole his beloved wife’s favorite pair of earrings. He saw the usual snot-nosed brats that were too busy on their phones and barely noticed the ‘friends’ sitting next to them. Farther away, Jerald saw some middle-aged women hurriedly whispering to each other - probably discussing the latest work drama to happen in their meager lives. He was sure he recognized his neighbor Lisa among them - not surprisingly, the woman couldn’t shut up whenever he, unfortunately, bumped into her. Everything was the same as usual - insufferable.

Now he felt reassured that nothing was out of place; he reached for his cup - his coffee was perfectly cooled - he always waited precisely two minutes and thirty-five seconds before taking a sip. It was the only way to guarantee a perfect cup at this awful establishment. But right when he pulled it up to his lips, he heard a familiar pop, and the next thing Jerald knew, he was leaping out of his chair in an attempt to avoid being burned.

“Damn it!” he yelled as he rushed to get the hot coffee that had spilled on his arm dried off. One of the women behind the counter hurried over to him and handed him a cold towel, “Are you alright, sir?” He patted himself down, letting out a sigh at the cooling relief the towel provided. Tossing the towel back to the woman, he waved her off before looking down to his wrist. He massaged it with his other hand and spun it around a few times. Wincing, he thought back to the medicine his doc gave him ‘what a waste of thirty bucks, that was the third damn time this has happened - this week!’ 

The woman peered over his shoulder, either ignoring or ignorant of his dismissive wave, “Oh, do you have arthritis? My dad does too. Did you know they released this new device that’s supposed to be able to identify where a joint is in pain and can alleviate it in seconds!” She was typing on her phone as she was speaking, and before he could respond shoved her phone in his face. On it was a listing for the product she was talking about, ‘Arthritis-Gone,’ despite the ridiculous name, it had a five-star rating - ten thousand reviews. A video started playing; it showed a man putting patches on his joints and using some phone app to make altercations. ‘It seemed to be helping that guy out.’

He quickly shook the thought out of his head. ‘I can’t believe I almost thought about it. When had any new-fangled technology ever been more than a hindrance - ever since my Shelly got that damn phone, she’s always spending time away from me. Well, I will not give in to the same ploy. If both of us do it, we’d never see each other again!’ 

Jerald shoved her phone out of his face. “Get that thing out of my damn face! God, is it too much to ask for a little human decency around here? I already told you to get on away from me - now scram!” The woman seemed to sink into herself, “...Do you at least want another cup of coffee?” Jerald looked at his watch; it was 8 o’clock. Shelly would be finishing up dinner by now; he briskly started walking out of the cafe - he refused to be late. Before he left, the woman called out to him, “Sir! The next coffee is on the house!” he rolled his eyes as the door shut behind him ‘If I ever come back.’ Despite thinking otherwise, he knew he’d come back. He always did, it was a part of his routine, plus it was the only cafe nearby serving half-decent coffee. 

By the time he reached home, his back was aching even more than usual. Grunting, he walked up the front porch steps and let out a sigh of frustration as he caught sight of another package in front of the door. Pressing a hand to his back, he decided he would just kick it in. Pulling out his keys, he went to unlock the door. As he turned them, he felt another sharp pain in his wrist, making him release his hold. The key had not fallen out of the lock - one of the few, if not only, blessings of the day. He finally got the blasted door open when he remembered the package waiting outside; he wanted to pull his hair out but didn’t want to risk even more wrist pain.

Shelly must have heard the door; she was walking towards him with a concerned smile, “Something the matter? You look even grouchier than usual.” Jerald allowed himself to smile. His wife looked beautiful as ever in her stained apron, “It’s that damned wrist of mine, spilled my coffee everywhere, and I almost dropped my keys comin’ inside. Nothing I do seems to stop it.” His wife’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she let out a gasp.

“That’s right! I forgot to get the package when it came, but I got something that should help out. The Doc called and said it might be worth getting. It was a little expensive, but the reviews made it a must-have.” Jerald was relieved; anything to stop this pain would surely be worth the price. Shelly brought the package in, and Jerald felt a part of him die when he saw what it was. ‘It can’t be!”

“Let’s see. It says here that after years of studying and tests, scientists have been able to develop a device that can detect when you’re in pain and send messages to these patches to relieve it. All you do is place them on problem areas, and when connected to their app, you can specify whether or not the patches will heat up or cool down - whatever works best for you! Don’t worry, dear. I’ll let you use my phone!” Jerald felt defeated. He couldn’t believe his wife would give in to that Arthritis-Gone nonsense. Shelly saw the look on his face and held her hand up, “Jerald, I swear, before you say a single word, you will at least give them a try. Or you will be sleeping on that old couch tonight - pain or not.”

He let out a sigh before letting his wife place patches wherever she saw fit, ‘I can never win against her, can I? But just this once damn it! Just this once would have been nice.’ After she had set up the app, she asked Jerald to do small things to test it. “This ain’t gonna work Shelly, and you know it, at least tell me this thing is refundable.” She completely ignored him, took him to the kitchen, and gave him a knife telling him to dice some of dinner’s garnish up.

He begrudgingly grabbed the knife and started cutting. To his surprise, all he felt was a sensation of heat spreading throughout his hand. He could even twist his wrist in multiple directions without feeling an ounce of pain. He let out a laugh. “You see this, Shelly! It’s like I’m only thirty again!” Shelly looked at him with a smug grin that brought Jerald back to earth. 

“I-” Jerald hesitated, “Shelly, baby, you know I can’t use this.” Her face fell at this - she only wanted what was best for him, “Will you at least tell me why?”

He took a few deep breaths, he didn’t want to seem weak to Shelly, but he also knew how much it had been bothering her, ‘If I don’t tell her, she’ll never forgive me.’

“All technology does is separate people, and - damn it, Shelly, I don’t want to lose you! You’re all I’ve got, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but you see those young people! They get some new-fangled technology, and they stop noticing each other! I just… don’t want that to be us.” Shelly, who had tears pooling in her eyes, pulled her husband into an embrace. “Oh my love, that’s what this is all about?” She pulled back to make eye contact with him, “I will never stop loving you, okay? I just want you to be happy, and when you’re in so much pain, you can’t be.”

Jerald looked away and held his tears back. She was right, as always. He had been in a bad mood ever since the effectiveness of his last medication started wearing out. “Promise me you’ll use it? If it makes you feel better, I’ll keep in control of the app part, so it’s less tech for you, and if you wanna change something, you get to see little old me first.” Jerald let out a sigh, “I don’t like it…” Shelly nodded at him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. ‘He was glad Shelly cared, but what if she was wrong? What if I got consumed by it and-’

“Stop thinking so much.” Shelly broke him out of thought and sent him an impatient look. “If it works, then that is enough. We are not going to get consumed by this device, and you know it!” She pointed a finger in his face, “You are practically a dead man walking, and if this puts any of the life back into the man I love, then so help me - you will wear it!”

Jerald felt his breath leave him; he couldn’t believe it - he was so worried about them drifting apart to technology and didn’t realize that they were already drifting because of his pain. All the times he’d come home and go straight to bed instead of having dinner with his own wife! ‘I’ve been a damned fool!’

Shelly seemed to notice his change in demeanor. “Glad you finally noticed, are you done being childish?” Jerald shifted on his feet, “Fine. But I ain’t happy about it.” Though he’d never admit it, they both knew this would be a happy change for the both of them.


End file.
